Poignant Sept. 11 Commemoration at Huntington High School
The Huntington High School community commemorated the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks with an emotional assembly program that brought together the school’s 1,200 students and more than 200 faculty and support staff members.
“The program was incredibly successful,” Principal Carmela Leonardi said. Students filed into the auditorium while photos or short video clips of 9/11 were flashed on a large screen located on the stage. Dr. Leonardi greeted the students and presented a chronology of the events of that day including the times the World Trade Center towers were hit and subsequently fell.
Kristy Lyons, president of the student council, introduced a series of fellow students who read touching 9/11 poems. Assistant Principal Jarrett Stein then spoke about the significance of the day for him and the loss of one of his friends. English teacher Mickey Baron read a pair of poems, including “Where the Sidewalk Ends.”
As a student played “Taps,” high school staff members who have served in the military, stood on the stage near an America flag while dressed in their respective uniform.
“I believe that this first full school assembly was respectful and meaningful,” Dr. Leonardi said. “The students’ behavior was exemplary. Every one of the adults commented that you could have ‘heard a pin drop’ in a full auditorium. I know that, each anniversary, I have not been able to reflect on that day without becoming emotional about the heavy loss of innocent lives and the show of patriotism and solidarity that followed it. For me this commemoration was the most meaningful because I realized that these feelings are still shared by those who will never forget that day and by those who have only heard their parents talk about this historic event.”
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